


Save My life

by Darkangel19881



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Recreational Drug Use, homeless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-31 00:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkangel19881/pseuds/Darkangel19881
Summary: Life isn't easy for a homeless drug addict. Until a stranger becomes determined to save his life. Will he succeed?





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter one  
NON YAOI

A cool breeze blows softly, making the homeless man sitting on the sidewalk, flinch and tighten his threadbare coat tightly around him. Bending forward, the dark haired man pressed his forehead against his knees. He hated living like this but what else could he do? No job would hire a man that technically had no address. He obviously didn’t have the money to even have a semi decent place to live. Right now he would take a rat infested garage if that meant he could get out of the cold. Of course the fact that he didn’t have an home wasn’t even the bigger issue. This particular man had a drug addiction, which is one of the few reasons that the dark haired man couldn’t afford a place to live. Whatever money he had went towards buying whatever small amount of cocaine that he could afford.   
Unfortunately at the moment the dark haired man couldn’t afford any kind of drug, which meant along with the changing temperatures the homeless man was beginning to go through withdrawal which was hell enough to deal with on its own.   
Closing his eyes, the man tried to hide his shaking hands in his jacket, his stomach was twisting and turning, making him feel like he was about to get sick at any moment. The man hated this, he wished that he could find even a small amount of cocaine, it would help him feel so much better. Groaning as the pain in his stomach grew worse, the man lay down on the sidewalk hoping that the change of position would help him feel a little bit better. Unfortunately it didn’t do anything, and the man only felt worse.   
As if going through withdrawal wasn’t enough, the man felt raindrops start falling. Shivering the man can only curl up into the fetal position hoping to protect himself from the cool rain.   
As he lay there watching the rain fall harder and harder, he watched as another man started to hurry past him, only to trip over the dark haired man’s legs, causing him to fall and drop the blueprints that he was carrying into a puddle of water. The homeless man can only watch as the blonde scramble to pick up his shattered cell phone and the ruined blueprints.  
“Someone is screwed” The dark haired man muttered as he clinched his hands into fists again as his body began quivering from withdrawal. He hated this feeling, he wanted just even a dime sized amount of cocaine, any amount would make him feel better.   
“Shut up” the blonde haired man growled, instantly irritated at the homeless man. “I will lose my job if I don’t get these blueprints delivered in the next five minutes.”   
“I guess you should have been watching where you were going then.” the homeless man muttered.  
“Maybe if you chose somewhere else to beg, I wouldn’t have tripped over you.” The blonde snapped as he gathered his ruined belongings.   
“Last time I checked you didn’t own this sidewalk!” The homeless man muttered as he stifled another groan as another painful spasm hit him. He wondered who this blonde asshole thought he was. Just because he was homeless didn’t mean the other man was better than he was.   
Suddenly his stomach turned violently and he turned around and heaved harshly onto the ground. Closing his eyes, he looked away from the one he could feel staring at him.  
“Are you okay?” The blonde asked.  
“Fine” the homeless man muttered wiping away the saliva dripping from his mouth. “Why do you even care? Aren’t you afraid that you are going to lose your job?”  
“Maybe” the blonde muttered before looking away from the man. The homeless people living on the streets of Konoha always made him feel uncomfortable, whether it was because he had more than they did. From the looks of the dark haired man that was currently lying on the sidewalk, this man hadn’t had much for a long time. It made Naruto feel guilty even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Naruto couldn’t help but wonder how the others life had gotten so bad that he had ended up on the streets.  
“How long have you been hungry?” The blonde asked, pity seeping from his bright blue eyes.  
“Don’t look at me that way” The other man snapped, glaring at the blonde. “I don’t need your pity.” The homeless man couldn’t stand the way the other man was looking at him. He hated when someone looked like they felt sorry for him. Instead of looking at him like that, why not lend a helping hand.   
“Who said I felt sorry for you?” the blonde man muttered before grabbing his things and began walking away, the raven haired man scowled, his hands trembled, and his head pounded with a migraine, he could feel more bile rising in his throat, and he turned his head and heaved once more upon the concrete.   
“Looks like the crazy addict is going through withdrawal.” he heard a cruel voice taunt and he closed his eyes. A orange haired man stood in front of him, laughter filling his voice.  
“I see your rich parents still haven’t helped you out.” he taunted again.  
“You know that situation, Jugo, They won’t have anything to do with me.”  
“Poor Sasuke Uchiha” Jugo laughed again “Rich parents but he gets disowned by his parents. What’s a man to do when you get even get the drug that got you thrown out into the streets to begin with.”  
“Leave me alone.” Sasuke muttered glaring at the other man, wishing that in that moment he could be somewhere else. He hated his family’s friends, they had all watched as Sasuke had gotten tossed into the streets when his father had found out that he had become addicted to cocaine. Sasuke had tried to tell his father it was because of the amount of pressure that his father had put on him to be just like his perfect older brother Itachi. Itachi always had perfect grades in school, always on the honor roll, perfect attendance at school. Once Itachi had graduated from college, he had started working at the Uchiha law firm, where so far he has won every case he has taken.   
Sasuke on the other hand had struggled to get passing grades, it wasn’t that Sasuke wasn’t intelligent, just studying and making the grades his father approved of came harder. Sasuke worked hard, but his father thought he was too lazy, when he was with friends, he should be home studying. If he was studying his mother and Itachi seemed to think that Sasuke needed to be out with his friends.   
Once Sasuke graduated high school, he had thought his father’s pressure for Sasuke to be perfect would be over, but it only got worse. Nothing that Sasuke done was ever good enough. That was when a friend introduced him to cocaine, one snort had been all it taken, Sasuke was addicted. He began using when he couldn’t keep up with his classes and his father’s wishes. It only when Fugaku came across the cocaine in Sasuke’s coat pocket. When confronted with it, Sasuke had tried to put it off as as something to help him study when he had to stay up all night preparing for an exam the next day. His father told him to get clean or he would cut off funding for his school and stop paying rent on his apartment. Sasuke had honestly tried to get clean but Sasuke found himself getting lost in the high that the drug gave him, the pleasure that it brought, made him feel so much better. Like he could actually be good enough for his father. However, his father had found out that Sasuke was using again, and had made good on his promise, and had stopped paying for Sasuke’s schooling, and had stopped paying Sasuke’s rent, which is what had led to Sasuke ending up on the streets. It had been three months now and what little money Sasuke had had went towards buying more cocaine. The cocaine hadn’t lasted very long and now Sasuke was left dealing with withdrawal, and leaving Sasuke struggling with the need to get high.   
“You know your brother Itachi is engaged, word has it that he wants to invite you to the wedding. But your father talked him out of coming to find you. He’s got Itachi convinced that you deserve to live on the streets because you chose to become addicted.”   
“I wouldn’t have become addicted if he hadn’t expected me to be just like Itachi.” Sasuke muttered, clinching his hands into fists, hoping that Jugo didn’t see them shaking so hard. Unfortunately, Jugo noticed and bit out another harsh laugh.  
“Keep blaming your father all you want.” Jugo said “but you were the one that snorted the drug and kept using it. It’s your own fault that you are wear you are. Maybe one of these days you can man up and apologize to your father. That’s if you don’t overdose first.” Sasuke scowled and looked down at his dirt covered pants, Jugo was right about one thing unless Sasuke got clean and beat his addiction, eventually he would overdose whether it would kill him or not was anyone’s guess.   
Sasuke turned away, he was tired of Jugo and the way the man always threw his past in his face when he came across Sasuke. He hoped that someday his father would be able to look past Itachi’s shadow and see Sasuke for who he truly is before its too late. Sasuke didn’t hold too much hope for that happening now, he seen his parents once in a while walking down the street. Every time they past him, Sasuke knew that his father saw him, but he chose to ignore him. Sasuke couldn’t help but wonder how a parent could just completely disown their own child. Were they right for doing it? Or should they have realized that it had become a problem for Sasuke and helped him through it? Who knew, Sasuke didn’t, though he did know that at the rate that he was slowly going hungry, he would likely die before he ever earned his father’s forgiveness.   
“Hey, I’m talking to you.” Jugo’s voice turned harsh and Sasuke felt a harsh kick to his ribs that made him cry out in pain, just as Jugo placed another well placed kick.   
“Stop” Sasuke moaned, as he wrapped his arms around his painful midsection.   
“Not until you get the message your father wanted me to send you. He thinks your the scum of the earth, and that he wishes that you had never been born, your nothing but a disappointment and you will never be able to be as good as Itachi.” the harsh words sent a wave of agony through Sasuke’s heart. Despite all his father’s mistakes, Sasuke still loved them, he adored his brother, but things had changed between them in the months that Sasuke had been on the street.   
Sasuke felt a sharp kick to his head, hard enough that he saw stars. He attempted to move away from Jugo’s foot, but he ended up rolling over onto a broken rip, shooting pain through out his chest. Sasuke could feel tears in his eyes, just because he was an addict it didn’t meant that he deserved to be treated like this.   
“Crybaby, you brought this on yourself by becoming an addict. You deserve the hell you currently live in!” another sharp kick to Sasuke’s head, more stars and more pain. Sasuke couldn’t help but wish the man would go on and kill him already at least then he wouldn’t be living in this hell.  
“Hey leave him alone!” Sasuke heard a voice call out, as the world around him began spinning and turning black. The last thing Sasuke heard was the sound of a fist hitting flesh.

What do you think? Should I continue? This is going to be more of a friendship than sasunaru story. Thanks for reading. Liz


	2. Chapter 2

When Sasuke awoke, he realized that he wasn’t lying on the cold hard sidewalk of the streets of Konoha, instead he was lying on a bed, that was soft enough that Sasuke just wanted to close his eyes and go back to sleep. As he stared up at the ceiling, he wondered where he was, he clearly wasn’t at the hospital, which Sasuke supposed he should be grateful. He hated going to the hospital for anything. He hated how the doctors and nurses judged him for being an addict, for choosing his drug over food and warm place to stay. As far as Sasuke was concerned that was his business and only his.   
“I’m glad your awake, any longer and I would have had to call an ambulance for you.” The blonde from earlier said as he looked over at him from his place beside the bed.   
“I’m glad you didn’t” Sasuke replied “I hate hospitals.”  
“If your head injury gets any worse. You’ll be going whether you want to or not.” the blond pointed out “I would rather not have you die on me.”  
“I’m pretty sure, I won’t just keel over” Sasuke replied “I’ll be fine back out on the streets.”  
“You’re crazy if you think I’m allowing an injured man to go back out there.” the blond man said scowling at Sasuke.   
“Who are you to tell me that I can’t” Sasuke demanded, wincing at the pain in his head.  
“I’m Naruto Uzumaki” The blond said “and as long as you are in my apartment you will do what I say.”  
“I never asked to be brought here” Sasuke pointed out “I would have been fine where I was.”  
“Sure, after getting your butt kicked by that other guy, I’m sure you would have just bounced right back to your miserable health.” Naruto grumbled, causing Sasuke to scowl and attempt to push himself into an upwards position.   
“No one asked for you to interfere with that.” Sasuke said.   
“And let a homeless guy get beaten to death for no reason. I don’t want that on my conscious” Naruto replied as he stood up, and crossed the room to the window. “Now that I can see that you are going to be okay, I’ve got another job to find.”  
“It’s not like I need a babysitter. I am a grown man.” Sasuke muttered, glaring at the blonde man’s back as he disappeared from the room. Sasuke groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, his head felt like there was a thousand elephants stampeding on it, but he knew that he needed to get away from here and get back to where he belonged, out on the streets with all the other drug addicts.   
“Get back in bed, you are in so shape to be moving about” the blonde said as he reentered the room with a newspaper in hand. Sasuke scowled but sat back down on the bed.   
“I’m not staying here” Sasuke said firmly “You can’t make me.” the truth of the matter was, he didn’t want the other man to see him struggling through withdrawal. He deserved to go through that misery alone.   
“When you are fit to leave in a few days, go right ahead” Naruto replied “but I’m not about to let you wander the streets with a head injury.”  
“How do you even know that I have a head injury” Sasuke grumbled “clearly you haven’t taken me to the hospital.”  
“I have a doctor friend who came over to look at you.” Naruto replied “she is the one that told me you had a slight concussion,” Sasuke sighed, he was pretty sure there would be more to that story. The doctor would have noticed the track marks on Sasuke’s arm. He doubted that she wouldn’t have not said anything, and so help him if the blonde mentioned Sasuke going to rehab, Sasuke would probably punch him.   
“Did she say I was going to live?” Sasuke asked turning away from the probing blue eyes that were looking at him.   
“She said you wouldn’t live much longer if you kept doing drugs, each hit lessens your life, that’s not to mention the fact that you are undernourished.” Naruto said.   
“I would think that that would be my business not you or anyone else.” Sasuke “If that’s how I want to go out, that’s how I will go out.”  
“Have you ever thought about what it would do to your family?” Naruto asked. “Have you even considered how much it would hurt them.”  
“You know nothing of my family” Sasuke replied “Nor do you know anything about me. Maybe my family is the reason I am the way I am, you of course wouldn’t know that because you are too busy judging me the same as everyone else is.”  
“I’m not judging you” Naruto said “How can your family be responsible for your situation, last time I looked, you look like a grown man capable of taking care of himself. You are the only one responsible for your current predicament.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, he sounded just like his former friends.  
“That just shows how much that you don’t know” Sasuke replied, as he closed his eyes, growing tired of ignoring the pain in his head. He still didn’t understand why the man beside him had thought it was a good idea to bring him to his home, probably would have been a better idea to have dropped Sasuke into the hospital and then went about his way. Sasuke hadn’t been worth losing a job over. Opening his eyes, Sasuke looked around the room,, he appeared to be in a small studio apartment, the man’s bed was in one small corner of the room, a small kitchen only a few feet away. The man’s belongings were few, leaving Sasuke to think that Naruto was struggling to make ends meet, even living in the rundown apartment.   
“You might not care about what happens to you, but what about your family? I’m sure you have someone out there who would care that your in the shape you are in.”  
“Nope” Sasuke replied “and I can’t say that I’m not better off without them in my life.”   
“That’s sad.” Naruto mumbled his bright blue eyes suddenly turning sad as he looked away from Sasuke. “You don’t even know what you are missing out on by choosing to live like this. Some people don’t have anymore family and wish desperately that they had someone to care about them.”  
“Yes, well if you knew my family you would know that I am better off. They don’t need me, and I sure as heck don’t need them.” Sasuke grumbled as he closed his eyes, as he longed once more for just one more hit. When the moment finally passed, Sasuke opened his eyes to find Naruto sitting on the edge the bed, staring down at a picture, in a small frame. The picture showed Naruto standing next to a taller, red haired man, both had blue eyes so Sasuke knew that whomever it was was related to Naruto.   
“I don’t care what your family done to you” Naruto said sadly “They don’t deserve the hell that you are putting them through. Your addiction doesn’t just effect you, it effects everything and everyone. Unless you want to die, I hope you open your eyes before its too late.”  
“Maybe I got addicted because of the pressure my father put on my shoulders.” Sasuke said “It certainly wasn’t my intention to become addicted, I only needed a couple of hits to keep me going while trying to be who he wanted me to be, clearly I failed at that.”   
“So just because your father sucks, it doesn’t mean the rest of your family does.” Naruto pointed out “would they really be happy knowing that your starving yourself on the streets so you can keep getting high.” Sasuke shook his head, he didn’t doubt that Itachi or his mother would take him back in, but by now it was too late for Sasuke. He didn’t think he could beat his addiction and he didn’t want to live with knowing that he had disappointed his mother and brother.   
“Find a way to make it right.” Naruto said softly “if not you could end up regretting it for the rest of your life.” Sasuke scowled, he didn’t like hearing the pain in the others voice. Irritated at the other preaching to him about something that he clearly knew nothing about, Sasuke scowled and stretched out his arms, and when he did he sent the picture frame that Naruto had been holding crashing to the floor, the sound of glass shattering filling the air.   
“Look what you done asshole” Naruto grumbled as he bent down and began picking up the pieces. Sasuke hadn’t intended to break the frame but seeing that it had seriously pissed the other man off, he couldn’t help but be glad.   
“Don’t preach to me about regret.” Sasuke grumbled “You don’t know a damn thing about it, living here in your little apartment. What could you possibly regret.”  
“How about the fact that I couldn’t save my brother.” Naruto said refusing to look Sasuke in the eye. “he was an addict for three years before he overdosed, I found him, a few hours after we had gotten into an argument about his drug usage, he barely made it to the hospital. After that for the next two years it was a struggle to keep him sober, one night after another argument, I left and when I came home I found him lying lifeless on the floor, no it wasn’t another overdose. I knew that he had been clean for a while and that it wasn’t easy for him, no he died from a heart attack at 23 years old, the drugs he used destroyed his heart, and in the end it ended up taking him from me. He was the only family I had, and now he’s gone.” Naruto said as he stared down at the picture in his hands, “I never got to tell him how proud I was that he had been able to stay sober, I knew it was easy, it was a battle every day for him. I never even got to tell him how much I loved him. He was all I ever had, he gave up everything for me when he was eighteen and our parents had been killed in a wreck. I was only 13 years old at the time.” Naruto closed his eyes as a tear dropped down his cheek. “Menma done his best with me, but eventually the pressure of raising me and trying to keep me in school and trying to keep food on the table got to be too much for him. I got a job as soon as it was legal but by then Menma had started using.” Sasuke frowned, his heart ached at the pain he could hear in the others voice.   
“None of that was your fault then, not if the drugs had already damaged his heart.” Sasuke said wondering what Itachi would think of his current situation, would he judge Sasuke like their father had? Sasuke couldn’t stand that thought, he adored his brother.   
“I should have known, I should have made him get regular checkups” Naruto said raising red rimmed eyes to look up at Sasuke “ Most of all I shouldn’t have walked out on him the way I did. If your so damned determined to die on the street, there’s the door, I won’t stop you.” Naruto pointed at the door before returning his attention to the broken frame on the floor. Sasuke frowned, he couldn’t help but wonder if leaving would be the best right now, Naruto really looked like he could use some support, although Sasuke wasn’t sure that in his condition he could give it. Why should an addict give comfort to someone who had ultimately lost their family to drug addiction, even if it hadn’t been the drug that had been the actual cause of death. Frowning, Sasuke looked towards the door and then back at the other man. He didn’t want to leave Naruto like this, but Sasuke wasn’t the right person to help him, he couldn’t even help himself.   
Shuffling to his feet, Sasuke winced as he climbed out of the bed, he couldn’t stay here. His addiction would only remind the other of all that he had lost, Sasuke didn’t want that. The other deserved to grieve in peace. Shuffling to the door, Sasuke noticed the wallet on the stool next to the door, knowing that Naruto wasn’t paying any attention, and the need for cocaine growing stronger, Sasuke silently slipped the wallet into his own pocket before slowly and silently slipping out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Outside Naruto’s apartment, Sasuke opened the wallet to find fifty dollars stuffed inside. Feeling slightly guilty, Sasuke grabbed the bills before dropping the wallet in front of Naruto’s door, and making his way towards the apartment complex exit.   
Once outside, Sasuke headed down the street, knowing exactly where his dealer would be. He could only hope that the dealer had the drugs on him, he needed something so badly at that moment, that Sasuke felt like he would die if he didn’t get it soon. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sasuke ignored the glares of the people around him. He knew that to others he looked like a dirty man who was too lazy to work, they didn’t know that an addiction had pretty much stolen his future right from under him. They didn’t know that Sasuke had struggled with wanting to kill himself because he knew that eventually his addiction would either kill him or he would be forced to make a choice, get clean or die. Obviously Sasuke didn’t want to die but at the moment his need for the cocaine drove him more than having a place to live or even food to eat.   
A few short minutes later, Sasuke came to a run down house, and paused. Did he really want to go through with buying his drugs with someone else’s money? Sasuke shook his head, he would have to get over the guilt, he was here because he needed the drug, no matter how he came to get it. Walking up onto the porch Sasuke knocked on the door. A few seconds later it opened, and Sasuke was allowed into the house. A short man that Sasuke knew to be named Tobi stood there with a gun in his hand.  
“Is Madara here?” Sasuke asked knowing that if he didn’t get right down to business he would likely be shoved right out the door again. Tobi nodded and led Sasuke down a hall to another room where a dark haired man sat surrounded by bags of cocaine. Sasuke swallowed hard upon seeing the drug that he had grown so dependent on.   
“It’s been a while Sasuke.” the voice said from the couch. “I was afraid that I didn’t have your business anymore.”  
“I’ve fallen on some hard times” Sasuke replied “But I need what I can get for fifty dollars.”  
“It’s not going to get you much” Madara replied, and Sasuke shrugged.  
“I NEED whatever amount I can get. I am desperate at this point.” Madara nodded, it was people like Sasuke who kept him in business, he couldn’t complain about selling whatever little amount that he did.   
After Sasuke handed him the money, Madara handed him the small bag of cocaine.   
“Don’t use it all at once.” he told Sasuke. “Who knows how long it will be before your next hit.”  
“I’ll find a way.” Sasuke muttered after he put the bag in his pocket, and turned and headed out the door. Once he was far enough away from the house, and in the general area that he stayed in. Sasuke pulled the little baggie out, and pinched out a small amount and held it up to his nose, inhaling sharply. Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned back against the building, waiting for the high to come relieve him from the withdrawal pains. It didn’t take long, pleasure began taking over all his senses and Sasuke can do nothing but grin at the people that pass him by, until he notices a certain blonde stomping towards him.  
“If you are going to steal from someone you might want to find somewhere else to hide.” The blonde snarled at him as he grabbed the front of Sasuke’s shirt and hauled the man towards his face.  
“Fancy meeting you here.” Sasuke muttered grinning lazily at the angry blonde man.  
“Where’s my money?” Naruto demanded, angry beyond reason. He had wanted to help the homeless man but the man had turned around and stolen all the money that he currently had. Sasuke ignored Naruto’s question and turned his gaze to the sky, storm clouds were starting to form, but Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to care. He only wanted to enjoy the moment while it lasted because sooner or later, it would wear off like it always did. Feeling Naruto give him a rough shake, Sasuke returned his attention to the man before him.   
“Don’t tell me you used my money to buy your drugs.” Naruto said and Sasuke shrugged. At that moment he couldn’t even feel guilty about his actions, in fact there were no negative emotions whatsoever coming from him. In fact the only thing that Sasuke felt was hyper, he had so much energy that he could probably run around Konoha twice.   
“You don’t even care do you?” Naruto spoke up after noticing that he had once again lost Sasuke’s attention. “That money could have been the last thing between me and going hungry and you stole it all.”   
“Don’t worry so much” Sasuke laughed “Everything works out in the end.”  
“You can say that now but you are drugging yourself into an early grave.” Naruto said.  
“Right now, I’m not worried about anything,” Sasuke replied and Naruto released Sasuke’s collar, allowing the dark haired man to drop to his knees.   
“I only wanted to help you” Naruto said “I wanted to save you from my brothers fate, but you don’t even care. You have your drugs why should you worry about your family finding your body lying in the streets.” Naruto shook his head and sighed. “I guess some people just have to learn the hard way.” Sasuke frowned as he watched the other man walk away, he knew that he had brought back some bad memories for the other man, he was starting to wish that they had never met. The other almost made him want to give up his drugs so that Naruto wouldn’t have to watch someone else die from drug related illness. Sighing, Sasuke dropped to his knees and sat there for several minutes as the rain began to fall and soak into his threadbare clothes.   
As he sat there, his high slowly disappearing he heard more feet coming towards him. Not wanting to know if the blonde had come back or not, Sasuke kept his gaze on the ground.  
“Sasuke?” he heard a familar voice say and he looked up into his older brother’s kind eyes. “Why are you out here? You are getting soaked.”  
“Don’t you know that for someone like me, this is how I deserve to live, out on the streets.” Sasuke replied quoting one of the last things his father had told him before banishing him from the family.   
“What do you mean someone like you?” Itachi asked, he had heard rumors about Sasuke being addicted to cocaine but he was certain that his little brother couldn’t possibly be doing something like that.”  
“I’m addicted to cocaine” Sasuke told him “I would have thought Father would have told you that.”  
“I heard rumors but nothing that Father would confirm aside from the fact that you were no longer a part of the family.” Itachi replied, wishing that he had returned to the city long before his brother had ever been abandoned.   
“That sounds like something he would say” Sasuke muttered before returning his gaze to the ground.  
“Come home with me” Itachi suggested “It would be better than living out here in the cold.” Sasuke shook his head.   
“No chance, I will only end up hurting you when I can’t beat this addiction.” Sasuke replied his thoughts returning to Naruto. He hadn’t thought that he could actually hurt anyone but he had clearly hurt Naruto, who was still grieving his brother. It would have been better if they had never met.   
“I can get you help” Itachi said “I can do more for you than Father is willing to do.” Sasuke shook his head no, before pushing himself to his feet.   
“You don’t know how grateful I am that you are willing to help” Sasuke said “But I think that this is something I have to do on my own. Though I believe my chances of success are very slim.” That being said Sasuke disappeared into the alley, his stomach growling with hunger. He hadn’t ever wanted Itachi to see him like this, it made Sasuke ashamed of the decisions that he had made that had lead him to this point. He knew that Itachi would never condemn him the way his father had.   
Finding a dumpster, Sasuke felt more shame for what he was about to do, how his life had ended up like this he didn’t know. Climbing up the dumpster, Sasuke jumped down inside, and began tearing through bags of garbage in search of any kind of food. Sasuke came upon some meat, knowing that it had been thrown out for a reason, Sasuke couldn’t stop himself from bringing the meat to his mouth, and slowly chewing it. The meat was clearly spoiled but at that moment in time, Sasuke was so hungry that he couldn’t even bring himself to care. He just needed any kind of food that he could get his hands on. Sasuke knew the extreme hunger was likely a result of the cocaine he had ingested earlier, but once again he could only care about filling his empty stomach.  
“What the hell” Sasuke heard a rough voice say “Do you think you are doing.” Sasuke looked up to find Itachi and his father staring down at him, Itachi had tears in his eyes at what his little brother was being forced to do in order to survive. Once Sasuke had disappeared, Itachi had thought it had been a good idea to get his father to really look at how Sasuke was living. He had the hope that his Father would for some reason allow Sasuke to come home again, but from the look of disgust in his eyes, Fugaku had no intention of allowing that to happen.  
“This is how you choose to live?” Fugaku asked “rummaging through the dumpster for food instead of trying to clean up your act and get back on your feet. I don’t think I have ever been so disgusted in my life.”   
“Don’t you think that that is a little harsh?” Itachi asked softly hurting for his obviously ashamed little brother. Itachi couldn’t handle the sight of a dirty Sasuke rummaging through the dumpster looking for food. It hurt far too much.  
“I know I’ve never been anything like Itachi” Sasuke said softly allowing the rancid meat in his fingers to fall the garbage bag. “I’ve only wanted your love, and for you to care. Is that such a hard thing for you to do.”  
“No Son of mine will be an addict, and no son of mine will ever eat from a dumpster.” Fugaku replied harshly, not seeing the light in Sasuke’s eyes begin to fade. The man had no clue that his words had the power over Sasuke to make him choose life or death, and with the words uttered from Fugaku’s mouth made Sasuke seal his decision.  
Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sting in his heart. What was so wrong with wanting his own father to love him the way his father loved his brother. Instead his father acted like he wanted Sasuke dead, shame filling him Sasuke stared down at the trash pile, ignoring his brother’s soft calls, trying to get his attention. After a few minutes of Itachi calling his name and Sasuke not responding, the other Uchiha son followed after their father, leaving the other where he was.   
Heaving himself up and over the side of the dumpster, Sasuke dropped down and landed on his feet. Pulling the remaining cocaine from his pocket, Sasuke proceeded to inhale the rest of the small baggie, knowing that it would only lead to an overdose. Once the baggie was finished, Sasuke sat down with his back against the dumpster. Tears filled, Sasuke eyes as his heart began pounding in his chest, blood began making a trail from his nose. Sasuke gave a weak smile as he wondered briefly if this was what it meant to be free. He only hoped so, he didn’t want to exist in a world that didn’t want him.   
As Sasuke began losing consciousness lying there, he barely heard the sound of feet coming towards him. He moaned softly as he felt two rough fingers being pressed against his throat. Shortly, afterwards he heard a low curse, and Sasuke wanted nothing more than to tell the person to go away and leave him to die. Even his own father didn’t think that he deserved to live and if his father thought it, surely it must be true. Sasuke was a terrible person and he firmly believed that he deserved to die. 

Anyone want to take a guess on who it is that found him? Will Sasuke pull through? Thanks for reading and reviewing! Liz


End file.
